Former cop: "I'm more important"

That would be what this guy (or girl) is implying. We don't know who it is because the media won't release the name of a former Wisconsin police officer who didn't want to wait in line, flashed his badge and gun when an argument started while he paid gas at a convenience store in Wausau, WI.

The officer, [former officer - ed] who is in his 80s, had a disagreement with another person in the gasoline pump line, and showed his badge and gun, which was in the holster, Kolb said. Wausau police confiscated the weapon and badge.

Former cop faces charges

Contrast that headline to this one: Impatient Customer Flashes Gun at Wausau Gas Station

A retired Wausau police officer, now in his 80s, is facing a misdemeanor charge after he flashed his gun and badge during an argument at the Mills' Fleet Farm gas station in Wausau.

It happened a little before 2 p.m. Friday. Officers say while waiting in line for gas an argument ensued over who was next. That's when the former officer revealed a holstered gun to another man. Police were then called to the scene.

This octogenarian could be trusted with carrying a concealed gun in Wisconsin because of his former profession and a trusting police chief. Common citizens are not allowed (the proper terminology here) to legally carry concealed in the Badger state - there is no permit process there. It's against the law for Sam the retired butcher to carry concealed in Wisconsin.

Would the same treatment have been accorded to a former school teacher, a retired programmer, or shoe-shine boy? We can be pretty sure that any of these people would have been hauled away and their names plastered in these stories.

Deferential treatment, perhaps?